Albus Potter and the mysterious death
by Furball101
Summary: This story continues after Albus,James and Rose set out for Hogwarts and follows Albus in his 1st year. An unusual friendship blossoms, family feuds and a mysterious death, will Albus be able to cope? And who is that mysterious girl with the blue eyes?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Journey to Hogwarts**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters of the Harry Potter series, they belong to the very talented, J.K Rowling. (Sigh)

Ok so this is my first story written about Harry Potter and it follows Albus Potter, Harry Potter's son during his first year at Hogwarts. Enjoy!

Albus waved and watched as his mother, father and sister waved back but began to get smaller and smaller until they were only tiny dots in the distance. He was excited of course, this was his first year attending Hogwarts, but he also knew that Christmas was a long time from now and he was a bit scared of being away from home for so long.

"Come on Albus," Rose whispered, pulling on the back of his t-shirt, "we'd better hurry and grab an empty compartment or they'll all be full."

Sighing, Albus turned around and met Rose's eyes. He could see that she was scared too. Giving him a little smile, Rose grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, before leading him towards a compartment towards the back of the train.

After making sure the compartment was empty, Albus and Rose sat down opposite from each other. James had disappeared, presumably joining his friends in another compartment. Glancing over at him, Rose asked, "Which house do you think you'll be in?"

"I don't know, I'd really like to be in Gryfindor but anything would do really, as long as I'm not in Slytherin," Albus responded, gnawing at his lip as he voiced the fear he'd had earlier.

Rose half laughed. "I seriously doubt you'll be in Slytherin!"

Cheered up by her response, Albus smiled and looked out the window. He was really glad Rose was coming to Hogwarts in the same year that he was, he just hoped that they would be in the same house. Rose was probably his best friend, they had been really close for as long as he could remember. Rose was very like her mother, in looks and personality while Albus was just like his father. Despite their different interests, they got on like a house on fire.

As he turned to ask Rose if she wanted to play exploding snap, Albus spotted a small, pale girl with wispy blonde hair staring at him. Her deep blue eyes bore into his green ones, and suddenly their eyes were locked and he couldn't pull away. He was filled with happiness and a soft laughter echoed in his ears, a laughter he had never heard before.

Suddenly the laughter stopped and the happiness drained away as the girl dropped her eyes, gave Albus a small smile and walked away.

"What was that all about?" Rose demanded. She looked at Albus concerned, angry and….. Fearful? He wasn't sure.

Albus gave his head a small shake as if to clear his mind. What had just happened? The laughter he had heard, if he hadn't known better, he would have said that the laughter belonged to the girl. And the odd happiness…. it was like the girl was communicating to his mind…..

"Who laughed?" he asked Rose slowly.

Rose looked at him uncertainly. "Nobody laughed, Albus."

Now Rose was definitely looking fearful. "Why was she staring at you like that? And the way you stared back at her, it was like you saw a ghost or something….," Rose trailed off uncertainly.

At that precise moment, a lady with a trolley full of sweets opened their compartment door.

"Anything from the trolley, my dears?" she asked, cheerfully.

Feeling hungry, Albus reached into his pocket, retrieving the money his mother had given him for the train. Rose did the same and together they bought two boxes of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, some cauldron cakes, pumpkin juice and some chocolate frogs.

With hungry stomachs and yummy sweets to eat, the two children soon forgot the conversation they were having.

The hours passed quickly aboard the Hogwarts express. Albus and Rose entertained themselves by playing exploding snap and chatting about what they thought Hogwarts would be like. With about half an hour to go, a prefect stuck his head in to the compartment and told them to change into their robes quickly as they would be arriving at Hogwarts soon. Grinning at their excited faces, the prefect then left them to change.

The two children scrambled into their robes as quick as lightning and then bounced up and down on their seats with excitement. Time never went so slow for Albus in all his life as he and Rose rambled aimlessly about Hogwarts, giddy with excitement.

As the Hogwarts express slowly grinded to a halt, Albus began to have the first feelings of nerves attack his stomach. What if he was put in Slytherin? What if he was useless at magic? What if no one liked him and he was made fun of? Glancing at Rose, he noted that she had turned slightly pale and was obviously getting nervous too.

Suddenly there was a clamour for everyone to get off the train and with one glance at Albus, Rose grabbed hold of his hand. Smiling slightly as her sweaty palm gripped his, he took a deep breath and together, they stepped off the train.

Once he had stepped off the train, Albus gasped slightly. It was quite dark out, but not dark enough for him to miss the gigantic lake. Looking huge and ominous, it seemed to stretch out forever. However, he couldn't see Hogwarts yet, he presumed the lake twisted to the left and that at the moment, Hogwarts was simply hidden by trees. As he pondered this, he heard a loud "firs' years this way!"

Several first years around him jumped, including himself and Rose. Rose then turned towards him and with a weak smile whispered, "That must be Hagrid, who else could shout so loud?"

Albus chuckled weakly and followed the other first years, pulling Rose along with him.

As they reached Hagrid, Rose gasped in astonishment. He was about twice the size of an average man and was about 3 times as wide. Albus' father had mentioned that he was a half giant and now Albus shuddered, he certainly wouldn't like to come across an actual giant. However, despite his size, Albus could see how kindness radiated out of his black beetle eyes that you could just about spot through is long shaggy hair. So it was surprise rather than fear that filled him when Hagrid pulled him and Rose into a bone crushing hug.

"Hullo," Hagrid said, beaming down at them, "Goodness Albus, yeh look the spit of your father and Rose yeh look just like your mother!"

The two giggled while Hagrid whispered, "We don't have much time ter chat at the moment, I must get yeh up ter the castle! But Friday afternoons yeh have free, how about paying meself an old visit then, on'y if yeh are int'rested, of course." Hagrid's eyes twinkled.

"Of course we are Hagrid!" Rose exclaimed while Albus nodded fervently.

Hagrid's face lit up. "Lookin' forward ter seein' yeh then!"

Hagrid then shifted his gaze to the nervous looking first years surrounding him. "Righ' ev'ryone, four ter a boat and sit calmly inside, don't even think 'bout jumping into the lake!

Nervous laughter faded away as everyone scrambled for a boat. Rose and Albus managed to get a boat by themselves but were joined after a minute or two by the wispy haired girl who had stared at Albus earlier on the train. A shiver ran up Albus's spine and Rose looked disgruntled. Albus stared fixedly on a patch of the lake, feeling the girl's eyes bore into his back as he wished she would look away. As the remainder of the boats filled up, they were joined by a small, pale boy with blonde hair, Albus thought he recognised him from somewhere.

Once everybody was seated, several people gasped as the boats took off, seemingly of their own accord. Albus realized that Rose was still clutching his hand and he smiled, he had lost the feeling in his hand about 5 minutes ago. He glanced up and realized that, too late, the girl was staring at him again and he couldn't look away. Again, those startling blue eyes bore into his but this time an image flashed across his mind. A huge hall it seemed, with four long tables and benches. There was a raised bench and some chairs at the top of the room. The hall was packed with students and teachers chatting happily, awaiting their arrival it seemed. This was all Albus saw before the image faded away and he was left staring into those startling eyes again.

The girl smiled shyly at him but he glared back even though he was shaking. What was all that about? Had that girl SHOWN him a vision, for she could not have seen the hall yet. Or was he simply going mad?

Thankfully Rose didn't seem to have noticed the strange exchange that had taken place between himself and the girl. She seemed to be craning her neck, trying to see if she could spot the castle. However, the pale blonde boy seemed to have noticed, he was looking confused between Albus and the girl. With a jolt, he recognised who the boy was, he was Scorpion Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's son.

However, all thoughts of the girl and Scorpion Malfoy left his mind as everyone suddenly left out a gasp of astonishment as they spotted the castle for the first time, including Albus. It really was magnificent, with its tall towers overlooking the lake. A whoop of excitement escaped Albus' lips,, they had finally arrived at Hogwarts.

Few, I'm tired after writing all that! I'm not sure when I'll have the next chapter posted, hopefully by tomorrow or the day after. For now however, I'm off to bed. Goodnight, and please don't forget to review!


	2. The sorting and the feast

**Chapter 2: The Sorting and the Feast.**

**Disclaimer: **Nope, unfortunately you guessed right, I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. However, I do own the mysterious girl, she is entirely my own creation!

Thanks to LunayesLuna for her lovely review and also thanks for correcting me on Scorpius' name, I don't know how to fix his name in the first chapter but I'll make sure I won't make the same mistake again. On with the second chapter!

As the boats slowly glided to a halt at the side of the lake, nervous chatter resumed. Glancing at Rose, Albus spotted beads of sweat beginning to form at the top of her head, matching how queasy Albus was feeling. However, nobody looked as bad as Scorpius, he had turned a light shade of green and looked like he was about to throw up any minute. Albus couldn't help but feel sorry for him, he wondered if Scorpius was under pressure to be sorted into Slytherin by his father.

Suddenly Albus was startled out of his thoughts as Hagrid shouted, "Firs' years, get inter two's, form a single line an' follow meself!" There was a mad scramble as everybody rushed out of the boats and obeyed Hagrid's instructions, Albus could see a lot of people were afraid.

By an unspoken agreement, Albus immediately paired up with Rose. Silently they followed Hagrid up the path leading to the Hogwarts gates and into the courtyard. Once they reached the courtyard, people began to murmur as they looked around, but really it was too dark to see anything.

Without a moment's hesitation, Hagrid pushed hard on the double doors leading into the castle and they entered Hogwarts for the first time. As they walked towards another set of closed double doors, Albus looked around.

Hogwarts had been rebuilt after it had been left to almost rubble, after the great battle in which Voldemort had been defeated. This had happened 19 years ago and Voldemort had been defeated by Albus' very own father. Albus always felt a great sense of pride shoot through him when he thought of this. However, his father rarely spoke of this great defeat, Albus suspected that it brought up very painful memories for his father. Many people died in the great battle in Hogwarts for his father, including Uncle Fred.

However, before Albus was completely consumed in his thoughts, the set of double doors opened, revealing a pretty woman with wavy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Albus recognised her as Parvati Patil, she had been in the same year as Albus' father. The soft chatter faded away as professor Patil cleared her throat.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she announced. "Behind these double doors is the great hall, where you will be sorted very shortly into one of the following houses, Gryfindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. My name is Professor Patil and I will be your transfiguration teacher. I will also be your head of your house, if you are sorted into Gryfindor." Professor Patil smiled kindly down at them.

"You had better smarten yourselves up a bit though, the headmaster will kill me if I bring in scruffy 1st years!" Professor Patil laughed kindly.

There was a great scuffle as everyone tried to smarten themselves up a bit. Albus nervously tied the top button of his cloak and watched as Rose attempted to flatten her curls a bit. For the first time since they had arrived, the wispy haired girl wasn't staring at him. She seemed to be staring off into space, muttering to herself. Albus wondered what she was thinking about and then decided he didn't want to know, she was very odd.

Professor Patil cleared her throat again and the scuffling stopped immediately. "Follow me," she announced brightly and led the way through the double doors.

Albus decided he liked this professor already, she was very bright, kind and cheerful. There were gasps of astonishment as people viewed the great hall for the first time and Albus would have gasped too, if he hadn't already been shown it by the odd girl. Even still, he stared around the room, at the long tables, while the older children stared back at them. As they walked, he heard Rose murmur, "That must be the enchanted ceiling," and Albus glanced up too. He smiled as he remembered his mother telling him that the ceiling was enchanted to show what the weather was like outside. Sure enough, the ceiling showed dark clouds that threatened rain, matching the weather perfectly.

As they reached the end of the hall, several of the first years were pointing at a ragged looking hat, perched on top of a stool and Albus knew straight away that that was the sorting hat. As the muttering died down, the hat suddenly burst into a song, shocking most first years.

Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find,

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryfindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve and chivalry

Set Gryfindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

These patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a thinking cap!

As the hat finished singing, all the Hogwarts students and the teachers burst into applause and the first years hesitantly joined in. After the applause mostly died down, Professor Patil reached for the sorting hat and read the first name off the long piece of parchment that she held, "James Anderson!"

A chubby, brown haired boy stepped hesitantly out from the crowd of first years and sat down on the stool. Professor Patil placed the sorting hat on James' head, covering his nervous face completely. After a minute or two of complete silence in which James fidgeted nervously on the stool, the hat called "Ravenclaw!"

The table second from the left burst into applause and James toppled over to the table, relief etched on his face.

Nora Burke, a small, red headed girl became the first Hufflepuff, Lisa Dunne became the first Gryfindor and Tom Henderson, a sly face boy, became the first Slytherin.

As the crowd of first years slowly began to dwindle, Professor Patil called "Alyssa Lovegood!" and the wispy haired girl stepped forward. It took less than a minute for the sorting hat to call out "Gryfindor" and Albus groaned. He wanted to be sorted into Gryfindor, but not if she was in it!

"Scorpius Malfoy!" was then called and Albus was right, the boy that was in the boat with them was indeed Draco Malfoy's son. The Slytherin's smiled, they knew without doubt that he would be sorted into their house. However, the hat was sitting on Scorpius' head for at least 3 minutes until finally it called… "Gryfindor!"

Everyone gasped in astonishment, even some of the teachers. Never, in the history of Hogwarts, had a Malfoy not been sorted into Slytherin. Scorpius' own father had even been a Death Eater!

Recovering from her shock, Professor Patil removed the sorting hat, revealing a shocked and shaking Scorpius. Tears glittered in his eyes as he slowly made his way over to the Gryfindor table. Not a single Gryfindor clapped as he reached the table, in fact, most Gryfindor's were shooting him hostile looks as he hesitantly joined the table. Apparently, even though he had been sorted into their house, the Gryfindor's believed that he truly belonged to Slytherin.

Professor Patil cleared her throat and called "Julie Price!" in an attempt to bring everybody's attention back to the sorting. However, it wasn't until Albus' own name was called, that everybody began to pay attention again.

As he gave Rose's hand one more desperate squeeze, Albus took a deep breath and headed up to the sorting hat. As he passed through the remaining first years, a couple of whispers caught his ears.

"Did she say Albus Potter?"

"He's the second son of Harry Potter, isn't he?"

His brother is in Gryfindor, he definitely will be too."

"The sorting hat is full of surprises today though, maybe he'll be in Slytherin…"

That was the last thing Albus heard before the sorting hat was placed on his head. However, like many others, it fell over his eyes and the hall fell silent as Albus was plunged into darkness.

"Ah now who do we have today…. another Potter!"

Albus gulped, startled, he hadn't expected the hat to quietly talk to him.

"Hmmmm….. you seem very like your father, great courage and a thirst to prove yourself as well….. you seem to have your mother's brains however…."

"Don't put me in Slytherin!" Albus thought desperately.

The sorting hat laughed. "Oh certainly not, Slytherin wouldn't suit you at all! No, that is the one thing that is different from you and your father, well then again, I suppose your father did have a piece of the Dark Lord's soul inside him….."

There was a piece of Voldemort's soul inside his father! What was the sorting hat talking about?

"Hmmmm…. Yes I think that would be best….."

"Gryfindor!" the hat suddenly shouted, startling Albus who had been musing over what the hat had just told him.

As the hat was removed from his head, happiness filled him so much that he felt like skipping over to the clapping Gryfindor table. As he passed Rose, she gave him a nervous smile, which he returned.

As "Sophia Richfield!" was called Albus settled down at the Gryfindor table, next to a tall, skinny boy with dark hair. Albus glanced up the table and spotted James, beaming at him and holding his thumbs up. Albus laughed softly and winked back at him.

As the Gryfindor's clapped for Sophia, the dark haired boy turned to Albus and extended his hand.

"Ben Simons," he announced, his blue eyes sparkling happily as Albus shook his hand.

As Albus opened his mouth to tell him his name, Ben cut across him, "Oh, no need to tell me your name, you're obviously Albus Potter, Harry Potter's son."

As Albus nodded to confirm this, Ben smiled.

"Oh and this is Sam Wright," Ben informed, nodding at a fair haired boy who smiled and mumbled hello.

Ben looked like he was going to continue speaking but at that moment, Albus heard, "Rose Weasley!" and he quickly whipped his head around, just in time to see Rose's face disappear under the hat.

Albus waited anxiously for a minute or so, desperately crossing his fingers under the table and praying she would be in Gryfindor.

"…..Gryfindor!" the hat cried and Albus was one of the loudest cheering Gryfindors as Rose ran over to join him, grinning from ear to ear.

When she reached Albus, Rose launched herself into his arms and the two stayed like that for a minute, giddy with relief and happiness.

When they broke away, Ben was eying them, smirking.

"It didn't take the two of you long to get to know each other, did it?"

As Rose glared at him, Albus realized what he meant.

"She's my cousin."

Not looking sorry at all, he said, "Oh sorry," and turned away.

"Dope," Rose muttered under her breath as Albus smirked.

At that moment, Jean Young was sorted into Ravenclaw and the sorting ceremony was finished.

As Professor Patil removed the sorting hat and stool, the headmaster, Professor McGonagall, got to her feet. Albus' father had told him that she used to be his transfiguration teacher, but after the Great Battle, she had been appointed headmaster, which she still was today.

Professor McGonagall stared at everyone sternly but then broke into a smile.

"Welcome everyone to another year at Hogwarts, and a special welcome to our new first years. Before we begin our feast, I have a few rules to give out. First years should note that wands are not to be used in the corridors at any times and that the forbidden forest is forbidden, hence the name."

Albus thought he could see a small smile on her lips as she finished her last sentence and a couple of people laughed.

"These rules of course, regard everyone else as well, just in case you have forgotten over the summer."

This time Professor McGonagall did smile as several people groaned in disappointment.

"And now I shall not keep our hungry stomachs waiting any longer," she then waved her arms in the air, "let the feast, begin."

Several first years gasped, and if Albus hadn't known what was going to happen, he would have gasped too. Even still, he couldn't help but stare at all the food that had just appeared on the table.

There was turkey, beef, pretty much every type of meat possible, roast potatoes, mashed, boiled, carrots, onions, peas, gravy… the list went on and on and Albus just sat there, unable to choose.

Out of the corner of his eye, Albus could see James laughing at his face, so he quickly lunged for the first thing available, boiled potatoes.

As he piled his plate high with food, Albus glanced at Scorpius for the first time since he was sorted. He was picking at a piece of potato and his eyes were puffy and bloodshot. Everyone was totally ignoring him, except for one girl, the strange one, what was her name, Alyssa? Yes Alyssa. She seemed to be muttering to him, but he was steadfast ignoring her. It wasn't until she touched his arm that he reacted; he flinched at her touch and moved further down the table, away from her.

He heard her sigh as she looked up, and caught him staring at her. Her face was miserable looking, in fact it was on the verge of tears. Curious to know what had upset her so much, he decided not to look away as their eyes locked and an image burst out in front of his eyes.

It was a bright sunny day but with a slight chill to the air, that made him think it must be October or November. He seemed to be looking at the Hogwarts grounds and with jolt of surprise, he saw himself walking down the path towards a small hut, probably Hagrid's. He didn't look much older than he did now but his face was contorted into sadness and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. As he continued down the path with his head down, he watched himself suddenly lift his head, as if he heard something. His future self turned slowly sideways, facing a grassy hilly area. As his future self trudged slowly up the grassy area, Albus spotted a small, fair haired girl, kneeling in front of a small gravestone, sobbing. It didn't take long for him to realize that it was Alyssa. As his future self reached Alyssa and put his hand on her shoulder, Albus spotted the name on the gravestone. Shock, dread and sadness filled him as he recognised the name, it was Scorpius Malfoy.

A/N: So that's it for this chapter! I'm not going to say when I'll have the next chapter up because last time I said I'd have it up in a day or two and it ended up being over a week! But I promise I won't abandon this story! I'm kind of disappointed though, I know that my story got 36 visitors but only 2 bothered to commented, and they're my friends. So please after you read this, can you take the time to leave a quick review, praise, criticism, I don't mind!


	3. The Feast's Ending and Meetings Arranged

So here's the new chapter! I'm glad to see that I got two new reviews from people that I don't know, plus a review from my friend LunayesLuna, making my total of reviews five! Lol Anyway, on with the chapter!

**Chapter 3: The Feast's Ending and Meetings arranged**

As Alyssa's eyes jerked away from Albus', he could vaguely feel Rose's soft hand resting on his shoulder and her voice saying "Albus?" uncertainly.

As he turned towards Rose, the happy chatter filling the great hall slowly began to fill Albus' ears and he vaguely realized that he was shaking.

"Are you alright?" Rose whispered softly, "You don't look well, should I get a teacher?"

Albus shook his head violently and croaked, "I'm fine," before turning back to his plate, aware of the concerned look she was giving him.

Truth be told, Albus was feeling anything but fine. He was weak and shivery and felt like he was recovering from the flu. However, he knew why he was feeling like this and knew perfectly well a trip to the hospital wing would be useless. He knew this must be his reaction to the vision that Alyssa had just showed him.

He glanced up at Alyssa and was surprised to see that she too was pale and shaking. He wondered vaguely if she saw the vision a second time when she showed him and realized he needed to have a conversation with her. Soon.

During the rest of the feast he tried to catch Alyssa's eye, but without any luck. She seemed intent at not looking at Albus, the minute he actually wanted her to look at him. He almost growled out loud, she was so frustrating!

Albus' food no longer held any interest but he tried to eat, aware of the glances that Rose was giving him. She looked frightened, as if expecting him to collapse right in front of her. He knew she only cared about him but he still had to bite back the urge to snap at her.

All the while, his mind wandered. Was the vision Alyssa showed him actually going to happen? Was Scorpius going to….. die in a few months? That thought sent shivers up his spine.

Albus was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a yell from next to him. Turning sideways, he realized that it was Ben Simons who had left out the yell and a second later he realized why.

He had been reaching for more potatoes when a ghost shot up through the table and the potatoes. Grinning, he realized that it must be Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryfindor ghost. His grin turned to laughter after he spotted the look of shock and horror on Sam Wright's face, he would bet 5 galleons that Sam was muggleborn.

"Good evening," the ghost said pleasantly, "So who do we have here, new first years?"

Everyone remained silent until a little brown haired girl, Lisa, Albus thought her name was, spoke up.

"Oh, you're the Gryfindor ghost aren't you, Nearly Headless Nick?"

The ghost sighed and Albus grinned again, he remembered his mother telling him that Nick preferred to be known as Sir Nicholas de Mimpsy-Porpington.

"I prefer-

"You're Nearly Headless? Does your head almost come off!" Ben cried, excitedly.

Nick sighed exasperatedly, "Yes, shall I show you?"

"Yes please!" cried all the Gryfindor first years, including Albus.

Sighing again, Nick tugged at his head which almost came off, being held on by only a couple of inches of skin.

"Ewwww!" cried the girls although the boys only looked fascinated, Albus even heard Ben cry "Cool!"

"Now that everybody has been fascinated by this little show, I think I'll be off," said Nick curtly and floated out the Great Hall door.

"What's up with him?" asked Sam Wright and Albus realized it was the first time he had spoken.

"I suspect he was hoping for a proper conversation, my Daddy told me he hates being asked about his head every year and I suppose it is quite rude," replied Alyssa.

She had an odd airy voice, as if she was away in another world and many people were looking at her oddly. For a second Albus didn't know why people were staring at her like that until he spotted what was hanging from her ears, radish earrings.

Alyssa waved her hands to her earrings and asked, "Yes, do you like them? My cousin Luna gave them to me, you know Luna Lovegood, the national Botanist? She's been searching for the crumpled hornshack for many years but they are very good hiders. I'm hoping to become a botanist when I'm older just like her. She gave me these earrings as a good luck present when I was leaving for Hogwarts, they brought her luck during the war. She was very good friends with Harry Potter, your father Albus- at this she glanced up at him but this time no image burst across his vision- and maybe we could be friends too?"

All the first years stared open mouthed at her after her odd little speech and one by one, they turned to stare at Albus.

Albus realized they were waiting for him to give a response to her and Albus struggled to find one. He knew everybody thought she was a bit odd, but no one knew exactly how odd she really was. Heat crept up his face as everyone stared expectantly at him. However, as he opened his mouth, all the food suddenly vanished from the table and dessert appeared. Everybody was distracted except Alyssa who was still waiting for a response. Seizing his chance, Albus mouthed, "I need to talk to you."

Alyssa nodded once and a peculiar look appeared on her face. Before Albus could try and figure it out, she turned away and helped herself to dessert.

As his appetite returned, Albus helped himself to some treacle tart and didn't miss the relieved look that Rose shot him. Albus grinned back at her.

All too soon the feast was over and Professor McGonagall was telling the prefects to lead the first years up to their dormitories. Albus' feet dragged as they climbed flight after flight of stairs. He was so tired that it was hard to even get excited about the moving and talking portraits or the moving stairs. After about the 13th flight of stairs, they reached a portrait of a Fat Lady wearing a pink dress.

"The password is "flying south" so remember it because the Fat Lady won't leave you in otherwise!" the prefect told them.

As soon as the password left the prefects mouth, the portrait swung forwards, revealing the Gryfindor common room.

The common room was round and cosy, with two fires burning brightly on either side of the room. There were loads of squashy armchairs and Albus immediately spotted the armchairs closest to the fire on the right, his father had told him they were by far the comfiest.

"Boys room on the left, girls room on the right," announced the prefect, indicating the two spiral staircases.

As the other first years made their way to their dormitories, Albus caught Rose's eye and asked, "Will we wait here for each other in the morning? I don't really fancy trying to find the Great Hall all by myself."

Smiling gratefully at him Rose replied, "Yes I would like that. Well, goodnight Albus."

"Goodnight Rose."

Albus was exhausted after such a long day and all he wanted to do was collapse on his bed and sleep forever. However, as he trailed up the stairs a voice stopped him.

"Albus?"

Turning around, Albus spotted Alyssa sitting on one of the armchairs. He had thought he was the last one left in the common room, he presumed everyone would have gone straight to bed. But of course, Alyssa had to be different.

"You said you wanted to talk," she said airily.

Albus rubbed at his head as a headache threatened to form. "Yes, but not now," he said exasperatedly.

Alyssa did not reply, instead she continue to stare at him in an unnerving way.

Albus felt his patience slipping away. "Look I'm exhausted, it's been a really long day. Can we talk some other time? How about tomorrow evening, in the library?

Alyssa stared at him for so long that Albus began to wonder if she had heard him at all. Finally she nodded her head slowly and said, "Ok, straight after last class."

Albus rubbed his head again. "Ok, now I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted." After watching Alyssa make no attempt to move he asked, "Aren't you going to bed?"

Pulling a small magazine out of her robes, Alyssa shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "No, I think I'll read for a while." Albus spotted the name on the magazine, "The Quibbler" and shook his head, amused.

As he headed up the stairs for a second time, Alyssa's voice drifted up to him. "And by the way, I'm still waiting for an answer to that question."

A/N: I know this chapter is kind of short but it just seemed like the right place to stop for a chapter. I'll try to make up for it by having the next chapter up faster than usual. I can't promise anything though! Also, it's my Birthday tomorrow, so when your reading this, can you please just leave a quick review? As a birthday present?


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